(I might be answering a question no one has asked, but I have heard this topic come up on a couple of podcasts and on some threads)
I once read a book by the then restaurant critic of the NYT. He tried to keep his anonymity while doing reviews but conceded that he was recognized at several high-profile Manhattan restaurants. He felt this did not affect his visits to those restaurants for several reasons (I no longer have the book so I am doing this partly from memory but also researched this matter online and freely plagiarized some articles):
1. Can a bad kitchen turn out great meals on demand? When you enter a restaurant, it's too late to hire a new chef and wait staff. It is a little late to get better quality ingredients. It's too late to bake new bread, make new desserts or get fresher fish, meat and produce. Moreover, you can't fake skill. Kevin will eat what the rest of us are eating.
2. Stepping up service won't work either. Servers can be more attentive or polite and Kevin and his party may get bigger portions but that is transparent. It is pretty obvious to the experienced eye that you are getting better service than the tables around you (you will probably overhear other tables complaining). And a bigger portion of bad food will backfire every time.
In other words, it still would have been a sad little crabcake or Banquet Fried Chicken and the coconuts would still be loudly rolling on the floor and no whispers could be heard at the Whispering Canyon.
I once read a book by the then restaurant critic of the NYT. He tried to keep his anonymity while doing reviews but conceded that he was recognized at several high-profile Manhattan restaurants. He felt this did not affect his visits to those restaurants for several reasons (I no longer have the book so I am doing this partly from memory but also researched this matter online and freely plagiarized some articles):
1. Can a bad kitchen turn out great meals on demand? When you enter a restaurant, it's too late to hire a new chef and wait staff. It is a little late to get better quality ingredients. It's too late to bake new bread, make new desserts or get fresher fish, meat and produce. Moreover, you can't fake skill. Kevin will eat what the rest of us are eating.
2. Stepping up service won't work either. Servers can be more attentive or polite and Kevin and his party may get bigger portions but that is transparent. It is pretty obvious to the experienced eye that you are getting better service than the tables around you (you will probably overhear other tables complaining). And a bigger portion of bad food will backfire every time.
In other words, it still would have been a sad little crabcake or Banquet Fried Chicken and the coconuts would still be loudly rolling on the floor and no whispers could be heard at the Whispering Canyon.
(I know that didn't make you laugh......)
